Ruth Funk Center Anniversary Event on March 21 Postponed
MELBOURNE, FLA. — Celebrate! Couture & Cuisine: A Decade of Design, the event commemorating the 10th anniversary of Florida Tech’s Ruth Funk Center for Textile Arts set for March 21, has been postponed.
Center officials plan to reschedule the event.
All sponsorships will be honored, and admissions purchased to date will be automatically refunded.
PREVIOUS INFORMATION:
Florida Tech’s Ruth Funk Center for Textile Arts, the unique cultural facility known for its engaging exhibitions highlighting woven creations from around the world, will commemorate its 10th anniversary Saturday, March 21, with an event and fundraiser celebrating the legacy of its namesake benefactor.
Celebrate! Couture & Cuisine: A Decade of Design will be held from 6-8 p.m. at the Hartley Room on the second floor of the university’s Denius Student Center. It will feature live music by local jazz singer Kristen Warren, global cuisine tasting stations and a pop-up exhibition of Ruth Funk’s kaleidoscopic garment designs. The celebration will also include the unveiling of the Funk Center’s new logo.
Guests are encouraged to dress to impress, as an award will be given for best fashion.
The Funk Center opened on Aug. 29, 2009, on the Florida Tech campus in Melbourne. Housed in a building designed by Melbourne architect Craig Suman, it almost instantly began connecting visitors to the communicative power of textiles.
Ruth Funk was a lifelong artist and educator and member of the Florida Tech Board of Trustees. She passed away in 2015, but her passion for spreading awareness of the diversity, beauty and relevance of textiles continues through the educational role of the museum.
Over the last decade, the Funk Center has welcomed over 50,000 patrons to its more than 30 exhibits. Nearly 250 contemporary fiber artists from Florida, the United States and around the world have presented their works over the last decade.
“I’m very proud of the Center’s accomplishments over the last 10 years and thrilled to celebrate in the spirit of our visionary namesake,” said Carla Funk (no relation to Ruth Funk), founding director of the Funk Center.
The Funk Center’s permanent collection has grown to over 1,600 objects from five continents that represent over 500 years of history. Strengths of the collection include Japanese kimono, South African beadwork, Central Asian embroidery and Panamanian clothing called molas.
Sponsors of Celebrate! Couture & Cuisine: A Decade of Design include Silk Sponsor Elizabeth L. George; Cashmere Sponsors Jan and Bob Case, Nancy and Rick Dillen and Nita Grisham of Wells Fargo Advisors; Linen Sponsors Carlene Bowden and Sharon Mischker; and Cotton Sponsor Jenifer Marx.
Event admission is $100 per person and available here. Please RSVP no later than March 16.
As part of the celebration, the Center will offer extended hours on Saturday, March 21, and stay open until 6 p.m. This allows guests and visitors additional opportunities to view the current exhibition, Ubuhle Women: Beadwork and the Art of Independence.
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